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Updated: May 5, 2026
Clinical-oriented Three-dimensional Gait Analysis Method for Evaluating Gait Disorder
Published on: March 4, 2018
Gait pattern in 9-11-year-old children with generalized joint hypermobility compared with controls; a cross-sectional
Helene Nikolajsen1, Peter Kastmand Larsen, Erik Bruun Simonsen
1Department of Rheumatology (COHYPCO), University Hospital of Copenhagen, 2100, Copenhagen Ø, Denmark. hnik@ucsyd.dk.
Insights
Children with Generalized Joint Hypermobility (GJH) exhibit altered gait kinetics, walking with lower joint moments. Further longitudinal studies are needed to determine the clinical significance of these findings in pediatric gait.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanical analysis of pediatric gait.
- Understanding joint hypermobility in children.
Background:
- Generalized Joint Hypermobility (GJH) affects a significant number of children.
- Gait patterns in children with GJH require further investigation to understand biomechanical differences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and compare gait patterns, specifically joint moments, in 10-year-old children with and without Generalized Joint Hypermobility (GJH).
Main Methods:
- 37 children (19 GJH, 18 NGJH) aged 10.2 years participated.
- 3D motion analysis using five video cameras and three force platforms.
- Calculation of net joint moments using inverse dynamics.
Main Results:
- GJH group showed significantly lower peak hip abductor and knee abductor moments in the frontal plane.
- GJH group exhibited lower peak knee flexor and hip extensor moments in the sagittal plane, though differences were small.
Conclusions:
- Children with GJH display altered gait kinetics with lower joint moments compared to peers without GJH.
- Kinematics during gait were similar, but kinetic differences suggest unique biomechanical adaptations.
- The clinical relevance of these kinetic variations in pediatric GJH necessitates long-term follow-up studies.
Background:
To study differences in gait patterns in 10-year-old children with Generalized Joint Hypermobility (GJH) and with no GJH (NGJH).
Methods:
A total of 37 children participated (19 GJH, 18 NGJH, mean age 10.2 (SD 0.5) years). Inclusion criteria for GJH were a Beighton score of ≥5, with at least one hypermobile knee joint; for NGJH a Beighton score of ≤4, and no hypermobile knees and for both groups no knee pain during the previous week. All children were recorded by five video cameras, while they walked across three force platforms. Net joint moments were calculated in 3D by inverse dynamics and peak values provided input to statistical analyses.
Results:
In the frontal plane, children with GJH had a significantly lower peak knee abductor moment and peak hip abductor moment. In the sagittal plane, the peak knee flexor moment and the peak hip extensor moment were significantly lower in the GJH group although the absolute difference was small.
Conclusions:
The walking pattern was the same for children with GJH and for healthy children, as there were no differences in kinematics, but it was, however, performed with different kinetics. Children with GJH walked with lower ankle, knee and hip joint moments compared to children with NGJH. However, the clinical importance of these differences during normal gait is unknown. To obtain this knowledge, children with GJH must be followed longitudinally.
Trial Registration:
The study was approved by the Committee on Biomedical Research Ethics for Copenhagen and Frederiksberg, Denmark (jnr. KF01-2006-178).
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